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Netflix and Nap: A Tempestuous Allure

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It’s tempting to fall into unhealthy habits, but a balanced lifestyle is the key to a vibrant college life.

One enters college with an abundance of excitement, hope, and the most fun of them all, freedom. While this freedom provides opportunities for growth, it also brings with it a sense of carelessness. When you’re no longer answerable to Mom, you let loose. In most college students, this leads to the rise of some unhealthy habits. Being able to stay in bed and Zomato all the time may seem like a dream come true at first, but it inevitably invites problems.

However, that is not the only factor that could lead to the development of an unhealthy lifestyle. It’s also easy to feel so drowned in assignments, society work, or internships that there’s no room left for exercise or any hobbies for that matter. After a hectic college day, there is nothing more inviting than your bed. With an episode of your current binge and some pizza on the side. This becomes a routine that’s hard to break out of.

“The appeal of the taste of fast food is not the only thing that has kept me in the habit of ordering in almost every night. It’s also very convenient to not have to prep or cook meals. It feels like a quick fix after a long day.” -Vansh, a second-year student

Moreover, “broke college student” is a famous phrase for a reason. When short on budget, cooking the same instant ramen pack a few different ways to get through the week is appealing. Thus, many factors contribute to the rise of unhealthy eating habits among college students. Another major problem is that of little to no exercise. It’s difficult to make time for a routine. The norm of going late to bed and having to wake up early for morning classes keeps one in the cycle of feeling tired throughout the day. Pulling all-nighters consistently and then drinking tons of coffee to survive, skipping meals, and not exercising are therefore common elements of a college student’s lifestyle. The allure of it all is heavy. But this lifestyle is unfortunately not sustainable. How do we beat it?

It’s important to start at the fundamental level and correct your basics. Build your day around a healthy sleep schedule, eat at the right time, and start incorporating at least some exercise throughout the week. As cliché as this might sound, your elders are correct. Doing this will significantly improve your quality of life and help you focus better on your goals. You don’t need some rigid instruction table to help you achieve all of this. Start slow and be soft with yourself. It’s also okay to maintain some flexibility. You do not need to cut Netflix or McDonald’s out of your life (duh, how could we ever?). Just practice moderation with it.

“After college hours, it feels unsafe for me to travel to and from a gym in the city. So, I’ve made it a point to wake up a little extra early in the mornings to do yoga. This way I get some exercise done every single day.” -Gauri, a second-year student at KNC.

While waking up early is definitely not the best suit for many of us, here are some things that you can do to start living a better and healthier life. When you get hunger pangs at odd hours, have fruits for snacks instead of reaching for a packet of chips. They’re yummy and healthy, plus super convenient to grab. Replace your caffeinated beverages with better alternatives that also serve as a refresher, such as milkshakes. When you do need to order in, pick healthier options as opposed to fast foods. For exercise, try to include movement in the little day-to-day tasks. Walk around on your study break instead of sitting in bed. Take the stairs instead of elevators wherever possible (the metro station maybe?). Discover a safe road/park near you and go for the occasional walk while on the phone with family or friends.

There are innumerable little ways you could create a better lifestyle for yourself. Making conscious choices regarding nutrition and exercise will take care of you both physically and mentally, improving academic performance and overall quality of life. Pave the way for a balanced and fulfilling college experience that sets you up for success in the long run. Cheers to doing better!

Featured Image Source: Pinterest

Read also: Health and Wellness Guide for Busy College Students

Arshiya Pathania

[email protected]

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Arts & Culture

DU Societies: Online or Offline 

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As a semblance of normalcy begins to return to functioning around us, Delhi University performance-based societies choose to go offline with their workings – a decision that risks alienating outstation students who are still hesitant to return to campus. Read on to find more. 

Delhi University sees a diverse crowd in all terms. The play of privilege has come to the forefront in the era of the digital divide. We witnessed students committing suicide, leaving education, and going to all ends to just afford a phone or laptop for studies. In this phase, where do the cultural societies of Delhi University stand?

In the online scenario, all the performing societies were forced to operate in the online space, as a result of which we saw many online productions, audio plays, and virtual open mics. But the transition phase in DU societies has begun even before the colleges are officially reopened. A few months back a lot of performing societies started functioning offline, some with or without permission from the college authorities.

These mainly comprise drama societies, music and dance societies which need offline spaces to carry on with their operations smoothly. But since DU is not a university of Delhi students only, the question that ‘Do DU societies belong only to Delhi people?’ seems pretty valid in a scenario where outstation students are being repeatedly sidelined by the indiscriminate move to go offline with functioning.

Just a few days back Mood Indigo, the fest of IIT Bombay, organized the prelims for its street theatre competition, where some of the prominent societies performed with their productions like Ibitida, Hindu College, Hansraj Dram Soc, Kahkasha JMC, Lakshya, Kamla Nehru College, Anubhuti, Sri Venkateswara College, and many others. DU Beat talked to Simran from Hansraj Dram Soc to understand their take on conducting offline practices and workshops in collaboration with other societies.

We first years came into the society to perform and sadly it was not happening. Offline practices were essential for us to learn how DCTC worked as we will soon become seniors and the onus of training others will be on us.”

An outstation member of Kshitij, the street play society of Gargi College which organised an offline workshop in collaboration with Hansraj Dram Soc, on grounds of anonymity, shared their views with DU Beat,

If we talk about outstation students, someone who has never seen their college, for them, online meets are everything, that screen becomes more than just a screen. Offline meets are not fair to them, and they cannot be expected to travel long distances to attend, it is just not fair. They are missing out on experiences and lessons because of the circumstances. In the end, it comes down to whose perspective you choose to see – that of the helpless first year or the third year who will choose the offline mode due to the sheer rigour and space it allows one to work in.” 

The culture of performing societies is surely a source of pride for the University of Delhi but another thing that the nukkad nataks propagate is the call for equality. In such a situation, when being in Delhi means being able to experience the societies, aren’t these societies becoming elite spaces? Various outstation students, who can afford to be in the city for internships or societies have moved here already, so who is actually being left behind? For these answers, we talked to Jai Mahajan from Shunya, Ramjas who shared his society experience.

Being in an online space has affected theatre but we are trying our best to level the playfield. Shunya is trying to come up with a fusion of both online and offline work. Surely people in the offline mode are learning and adapting quickly, but it’s up to seniors how they balance the collaboration.” – Jai, a member of Shunya, Ramjas

In the month of November, Shunya conducted its first series of month-long offline workshops. Students across departments and years from the college attended the workshops, which were conducted by incumbent and erstwhile members of the society on a wide range of topics relating to theatre. But the attendees also included a large number of outstation students who flew down to the city specifically to attend these workshops. Although safety precautions were adequately taken for the same, the decision to conduct these workshops in the offline mode, which many society members too could not attend, still remains under question.

As the auditions of performing societies were conducted in the online mode in the time of the digital divide, it already pushed out students from backward sections of societies. Several talented students could not audition due to unstable internet, and some had to travel elsewhere just for the sake of giving their auditions. And after that exclusion, the dispersion of outstation and Delhi students brings forth the question of representation. Performances talking about the evils of caste and class while propagating on those same foundations are making a farce of the art form.

We can’t lose out on practice just because the colleges are online now. To get on the stage and win awards and experience that feeling of dancing in front of people cheering for you hoping that you win. To learn things online is really difficult, offline practice is of the utmost necessity if you want to bring the best out of your crew. There is no formal permission as such but socs have never totally depended on college to practice even when it was offline.” – A member of a dance society

DU performing societies have been known for their rigorous working, but the entire working process changed owing to the prevailing conditions. Talking about how his society operates, Tushar, a member of The Dramatics Society of Dyal Singh Evening College, Junoon said,

Most of the members of our society are from Delhi, offline meets are recorded, and activities are discussed in the online meets. The same activities are done in the online mode with some tweaks to make them feasible.”

Meanwhile, Jai from Shunya, Ramjas shared how audio plays helped them bridge the gap to some extent.

Some of our members are from Kashmir and places where there is low connectivity; for them, we practiced and explored auditory drama on phone calls.”

Shruti, the President of Lakshya, KNC, shared her society experience of working in the online mode. For better functioning, they divided the team into two where outstation members worked on the stage production, working with characters, while the Delhi students worked on street play.

At least some of the students would learn and know something; this year we are focusing more on learning and teaching.”

There are also various societies that chose not to function in the offline space. Siddhi from LSR Dramsoc shared her take on the issue,

Even though the offline experience was beautiful, we chose not to practice in offline mode since we have people from other cities as well in our society. We need to adapt to the times, and to pass on the culture, we talk about our past experiences and activities, so our juniors know about the working. DCTC as a group needs to think and engage in dialogue to come to a better and more feasible conclusion.”

While sharing her experience of being an outstation student, a member of a drama society said in a conversation with DU Beat,

It doesn’t feel like a team anymore; the production doesn’t feel ours. If offline working brings back the culture of theatre it also breaks the team apart in two. It’s a sort of slow coercion over outstation students to leave since we don’t play any active part. We feel like outsiders instead of outstation students, where we realize being in Delhi is a privilege that we can’t afford.” 

Despite the brouhaha surrounding the debate around offline and online functioning, there are societies that have accepted the online mode and have gone ahead with annua productions; for example, the Shakespeare Society of St. Stephens College performed their annual production for the year Chateau Manor House on Zoom a few weeks back. The reluctance of many societies to adapt to the same mode is, on one hand preserving the physical essence of these performance societies. At the same time, it risks non-functioning and becomes largely emblematic of the larger hegemony present in these societies to refuse to adapt to changing times and tweak and challenge procedural functionings that have been set in stone for years now.

Image Credits: Sabha, the dramatics society of St. Stephens College 

Read Also: The Rise of OTT: Destruction of The Theatre Culture?
Remembering Safdar Hashmi: Inquilab and Theatre

Kashish Shivani ([email protected]) 

Anwesh Banerjee ([email protected]) 

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Arts & Culture

Dear Freshers, This is Your Reality Check on DU Societies         

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With the rosy season of auditions going on, this is an introduction for freshers to the dark side of DU Societies.  

As the audition season approaches, one could have seen the college areas buzzing with auditions. On the online campus, it’s a bit different; the society’s social media pages, which have been abandoned for long, now become the main agenda of society meetings. All of a sudden, reels are being posted, and you see clips of happy members of societies playing along, some on screens while some on the ground, and a Ritviz song playing in the background. The usual words that will be used in these videos are “family”, “creative community” and every adjective you can imagine for a bunch of happy undergrads. But are societies really this happy, or is it just the poster happiness to lure in freshers?

(Obviously, not all societies fall into this category, the main aim is to introduce freshers to the toxic side of DU societies.) A lot of societies are run by seniors who exercise control over all the functioning. At some colleges, administration or the teacher or convenor intervene, but at some, they don’t pay any heed. Some societies have also faced such extreme obstruction of administration that even their performances have been canceled, whereas the bullying by many societies goes unchecked due to no surveillance. (Societies should ideally lie between this tussle of control, where admin maintains minimum control but a required check, but hey, we are in DU!)

A hierarchy is maintained among all the members to maintain ‘discipline’. But this setup often leads to toxicity as seniors in positions of responsibility take undue advantage of their power. The societies that should act as communities housing creative talent become a powerhouse of trashy politics and toxicity, where bullying and ragging houses.

Recently, such a situation came to light during the auditions of Finance Investment Cell of Hansraj College, about which a first-year student said,

During our Finance Investment Cell interviews, the core team members made us dance against our will, I felt uncomfortable but since I wanted to get into the soc, I had to go with the flow. Later on, they were boasting about the fact that they made us do squats, dance, and sing in the interviews during our induction meeting.” 

First Years who are already ridden with anxiety get pushed underneath the wish of being in the cool circles of college and fail to report such behaviors, and the cycle of toxicity continues. Another student from a dance society shared their experience in a conversation with DU Beat.

This certain level of hierarchy restricts our freedom as an artist and as a person. The role of unions should be to represent the members of the society and to guide us, but it feels like someone has given them authority and they just want to show it off.”

Even in the online mode, several students have suffered terrible things at the hands of societies. With the second batch moving into the online campus, we need to configure our thinking accordingly. If the cultural front of the university keeps on reeking privilege and toxicity, the development of the individual would be a far-gone concept here. It’s high time proper redressal forums (talking about Cultural Secretaries) work in every college to respond to all grievances and dismantle these toxic hierarchies.

[email protected]

Kashish Shivani

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alumni

Humour – But The Cost?

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On the occasion of Teacher’s Day here is looking at one of the most loved scenes of comedy, from one of the most beloved comedies of our times and asking if we realise the cost of the humour we so amply glorify.

It was genuinely all fun and games.

Every time people, peers, and elders, would sit down to discuss 3 Idiots, the film, invariably the Teacher’s Day speech would come up. Look at how Rancho so smartly explains his point to Raju. Did you see how Chatur was put in place? Serves him right. Love watching Virus being put in his place, it’s such fun!

Growing up around people who revered the now cult classic as a rip-roaring comedy on the farcical nature of our education system and parental expectations from children, aspects of the film ever hardly struck me as odd. Until recently while speaking to one of my high-school teachers I was pleasantly taken aback to hear,

I have no respect for a film that makes such comedy out of a public humiliation of teachers and that too by making them the butt end of rape jokes. It is obscene and crude.

Here was a man, a teacher at that, who disliked what is arguably one of the most impactful and successful films of recent years. Not because it spoke about herd mentality, and emphasised excellence over success, but because of the way it treated it’s teachers in the process of proving a point.

Of course not all teachers deserve to be worshipped on altars. Some are mean, insensitive and just bad at their job. But is it okay to make an entire nation laugh by making your professor the butt end of rape jokes? Think about it.

The scene in question serves a dual purpose in the narrative of the film. It is to explain to Raju the importance of excellence and enjoying your curriculum as opposed to rote learning the same. But at the same time it is yet another widely lauded vilification of the figure of the nerd, who is close to his professors, knows nothing but studying, is socially awkward and of course is the butt end of bullying and abuse. And in the context of the film, this very same stooge of the professor becomes the instrument by which the cool students get back at the professors they hate so much.

My argument is simple. In no way am I endorsing a cut-throat competitive world or a teaching persona who believes your life is of no worth unless you pursue engineering or medicine. My problem is simple and different. How can we, as a society come together to hate b laughing at them and making them the butt end of rape jokes? The perpetrators of the crime literally go on to celebrate the victory of the same in the next scene and by the end of the film are hailed as heroes. The nerd is the one who is made to appear in poor light.

Humour is tricky business. Comedy is purposely designed to critique societal norms and the establishment but if the core purpose of comedy is to relieve through laughter then isn’t it important to question where that humour or laughter is coming from? Really think about it. Sexual harassment and abuse in academia is a widespread problem across the world. Horror stories of students, male and female, being abused by professors and teachers galore. We all have that one friend who confided in us about that one evening, in one empty tuition class, when the teacher they revered for so long transgressed from all acceptable social norms.

Another, easily overlooked aspect of the scene in question is the use of language as a tool of oppression. The student in question, Chatur, grew up in Pondicherry and Uganda and speaks, quite unconvincingly, broken hindi. How is it alright to use this as an excuse to vilify him and the teachers he so deeply adores? As a student of a university as large as Delhi University, every day I see students from distant parts of the country, struggling to convey the most basic of questions. Why? They do not know Hindi and their English is not perfect. But they still try. And even as they try and helplessly request people to not speak in hindi, there are people in abundance who think it fun to reply to their questions in hindi just for the sake of a few laughs. It is 2021 and yet linguistic chauvinism is a tool of abuse in the student community.

In the post-MeToo scenario, films, especially cult classics like the one in question, need to be recognised for their casual humouring of abuse. As an outcast nerd myself, I do not know how long it will take for society to actually come around to stop vilifying us. But that is a different issue altogether. But what we can start off, as students, is to recognise these instances of trivialisation of deeply troubling issues such as abuse in educational spaces. Our teachers are not without their faults and by god we are part of a deeply fundamentally flawed education system. But really our teachers and by large our students deserve better representation than this.

Now that I think, is it really all fun and games?

Anwesh Banerjee

[email protected]

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Breaking Down the DU Aesthetic

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The tote bags, the kurtas, the jhumkas, the sandals, the Sarojini of it all!

Diversity is possibly the primary thing that counts as a niche when it comes to DU. While it is claimed proudly, the inherent urge of wanting to belong and recognize another as one of your own has quite conveniently led to one of the most diverse and heterogeneous institutions developing its own separate, sense of style.

Beginning with the one that has aesthetic pages in a universal chokehold, the tote bag. While, in my own humble opinion, backpacks are more convenient, tote bags have gained popularity by targeting the need to be seen as individuals. Instead of a generic-looking backpack of primary colors and zips, tote bags can be customized to reflect your politics, your interests, or your favorite Taylor Swift lyric. (Also, for us introverts, isn’t it convenient to have something to hold?)

This arm accessory, which goes well with everything, is frequently paired with a kurta. It can be simplistic or bold, plain or intricate, and not expensive. From Sarojini to Lajpat, shops abound in every color and design you can think of, all for a low price (lower still, if you know how to haggle).

And of course, no good outfit is complete until it is complemented by the right footwear. Flip-flops, sandals, and sports shoes are the most prevalent kinds on any varsity, and with good reason. People often underestimate just how much of college life is essentially just walking. And as much as I’d like to show up in fabulous boots, just the idea of having to endure that pain that excruciating is enough to make me reconsider. Style loses yet another battleground to comfort and sandals reign as the supremely preferred and situationally appropriate choice of shoes.

Once your basics are good to go, in comes jewelry. Rings, bangles, oxidized jhumkas, the works. Just pop on one (or all) before leaving your house and you will have succeeded in guising yourself as a DU student.

And despite all these, the best part of the DU aesthetic is its affordability. Of course, you’re free to turn up in your Louis Vuitton but know that Sarojini is going to the showstopper. While money doesn’t dim entirely here (or anywhere), any judgement you might get from strangers in the corridors does not exist.

It’s impressive how the massive student body has found a style in which they can all come together and exist as one, while also retaining their individual identities and celebrating them as often as they can.

Naina Priyadarshi Mishra

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Diversity out of the Question of Languages

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Following the recent events, we tried to locate what language our nation speaks—of hate or of Mir?

“I knew that language is the most private and yet most public things.” – Arundhati Roy, In What Language Does Rain Fall Over Tormented Cities?

What language do we speak altogether, collectively as a nation? 780, or the ones actually recognised? Of love or of hate? Do we even speak together, ever?

I learned in my history class about imagined communities. Are we just one true imagination that exists with all its hypocrisies with just one name that binds us together? The peculiar curiosity about your identity starts somewhere around our age only, I think India never got out of that phase, she is still trudging the path of curiosity to know all about it.

Being trilingual, I get how difficult it can be to brainstorm with three words meaning something somewhat similar but never the exact same. How does India manage with so many? We read about diversity since first grade. In the language, I read it, “Anekta mei ekta.” At times, I think her diversity could never get out of this essay. It tried and tried, but it was such a high pedestal that returning was never an option, but we found out her invisibility on the streets at times, for we all read or maybe heard it – India: A Land of Diversities.

But whose language does India actually speak? Of Ghalib or of those who went rallying against Fab India when it named its Diwali Collection Jashn-e-Riwaaz, which loosely translates into a celebration of tradition.

The social media went mad with hails of ‘NO Abrahaminsation of Hindu Festivals’. And amidst this, a Markazi Khayal came to me that what word could we substitute for Khyal in Kabhi Kabhi mere dil mei Khayal aata hai? Or maybe what would we substitute when the people actually discover that the words Hindi, Hindu and Hindostan are from Persian Arabic? Did I miss a class of Language partition when the words of Urdu casually entered the conversations and even a bit of Shudh Hindi found its place with slang from the local dialect?

The Partition happened when, during the British era, the Hindustani language broke up into Hindi and Urdu, and since then, the graph has been up and down with the ‘language’ that we decide to speak publicly, sometimes of hate and sometimes of mir.

According to a research paper about the decline of Urdu sounds,

First, the decline of Urdu sounds began in the 1990s, which marks the rise of the Hindutva politics and the beginning of the mushrooming of cable television networks.”

So, this is the language I have been referring to the language that the current hegemony chooses to speak.

A good thing about Grammarly is that you can set the tone of language that you want to deliver your content in, and it rectifies the words accordingly. What would the tone be when people don’t let Munawwar Faruqui perform in Goa for 500 people would set themselves on fire. The organisers received threats from several Hindutva groups, and shows in Raipur, Surat, Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Mumbai had to be cancelled. Munawwar was also arrested for a joke he did not tell, and the apex court that granted him release said the tone of the FIR was vague and no apparent reason for his arrest.

Clearly, the cancel culture in our country goes a different way, where the dominant group shuns the language that it does not want to hear, be it just the name of the collection, an advertisement that talks of love bonds, or anything that might prick the forces of Hindutva. Who will be the next Kaifi saheb, perhaps Ghalib or the true sense of diversity that we talked about on pages?

Although Hindi’s victory has been a resounding one, it does not seem to have entirely allayed its keepers’ anxieties. Perhaps that’s because their enemies are dead poets who have a habit of refusing to really die.” – Arundhati Roy, In What Language Does Rain Fall Over Tormented Cities? 

There is a linguistic relativity hypothesis that says our language shapes our thought, and Arundhati writes in her essay that a country’s public language is its own public imagination. So, the next time you say ‘ye Ishq nahīñ āsāñ itnā hī samajh liije ik aag kā dariyā hai aur Duub ke jaanā hai’ know that in the current context it literally applies to the word Ishq for someday people might take offence for its existence because of its source.

All this is to say that we in India live and work (and write) in a complicated land, in which nothing is or ever will be settled. Especially not the question of language. Languages.” – Arundhati Roy, In What Language Does Rain Fall Over Tormented Cities? 

Kashish Shivani

[email protected] 

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Farewell Season

In the Hope of Relief from the Hellish cycle

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As I said, there is no escape from this cycle, but there is relief for sure. Relief you will find in trying, be it these matters of national importance or your personal calling. There is calm for sure in giving it another go. College tests you in all ways possible, it is after all our first step into the real world. 

Passing and leaping over many deadlines, I have come to this, my last article for DU Beat. In the past few months, the horrors of the blank page have devoured me, the blinking cursor, and the lying pencil have become devils waiting for me. It’s hard to write but it’s a lot harder to write daily. As I prepare myself to leave college and the excellent organisation of DUB (the source of my entire identity in college), the fear of blank pages is still on my back, chasing me every now and then. 

 

Though, I entered college with a different set of fears altogether, this blank page didn’t even exist then. There were lists of things to be done and places to be visited, all huddled in a diary that has preserved tears from my school days. So in my college of just about one year or maybe some months more than that, I am happy to say, I never got the time to even visit back that diary. Lists were made daily and were lost in scours of pages in my wallet or got mixed up with bank receipts or pink tickets from DTC. 

 

I still remember my first article written about DU titled “Entering DU via Whatsapp”. The 2021 student in me wrote, actually posed the question- “So will we, the first batch to join DU virtually, be able to foster friendships that will go beyond similar watch and playlists?” Hardly knowing that I was about to lose almost every friend, I had at that moment. The problem then was to meet those friends in person, the problem today is we haven’t even talked since last year. The best thing about DU or in fact any college is the dynamic and the huge spectrum of problems that it throws at you. From not giving physical degrees to students, suspending them for screening a documentary, and not allowing elections of student unions for more than three years, to heartbreaks, broken friendships, loneliness, and inferiority complex, it gives us all. 

 

There is actually no escape from this hellish cycle, I could have painted this article with beautiful nostalgia for red-bricked walls, mustered up some beautiful imagery about the campus, a short anecdote from Khan market and a quick motivational line at the end asking you all to strive towards change. (Would have made a cute article though.) But that’s the sad part, change here has been going backwards and there seems to be no anchor strong enough to stop this ship from sailing towards the wrong side. So the challenge for you, all upcoming ones, is not to drive towards change but rather to try and stop it from happening. Be it censorship of our syllabuses (please read Bama, Sukirtharani and Mahasweta Devi’s work) or rather a complete refurbishing of them, turning our colleges into the sanctum of their ideological frameworks, using our hostel lands as gaushalas, organising dubious and extremely biased literature festivals, not paying our karamcharis and teachers their salaries or allowing men who call for genocide as guests of honor in our fests. The tide of ideological supremacy is gulping the entire nation into it, and so are going down our universities deep into it. More than anything the change and push towards privatisation of education needs to be stopped. More than change and more than an urge to become something else, what is of urgent importance is for us to be students – learners and practitioners. 

 

As I said, there is no escape from this cycle, but there is relief for sure. Relief you will find in trying, be it these matters of national importance or your personal calling. There is calm for sure in giving it another go. College tests you in all ways possible, it is after all our first step into the real world. 

 

But there is more that our time and circumstances demand, to be students aware of the changes being induced towards them, those who know the power of asking questions and use it correctly. It’s not a call to fight or to resist on streets, this is a call to be conscious of things going around, to question while you sit in your class and the teacher sushes down an argument by other student on the pretext of fear, to join in and understand the problems of karlamcharis and teachers, to point out language imposition and discrimination of any sort when you see it. This is a call to ask for your college to be a part of DUSU, for if this university still remains a democratic space, every college student must get the right to vote for their union representatives. There is no escape but the relief will be in democracy only, both at the national, college and personal level. 

 

Luckily, I found my relief in DU Beat and the people who work here, for which I will remain grateful forever. Be it my personal woes or the university ones, I got the platform to address them all. But yes, the fear of blank pages and the fear of not being a student anymore devours me, but I will try to keep refreshing my set of fears and to keep the student in me alive, always. 

In hope of relief. 

 

Kashish Shivani

[email protected]

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SVC’s Continued Resolve Against Fragmentation of Delhi University

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The ongoing talks of Sri Venkateswara College being dismembered from DU and shifting its affiliation to AU have been in the headlines and a cause of concern for some time now. With DUTA officially siding with the SVC staff association in their resolve against the fragmentation of Delhi University and the ongoing protests by the student body, the Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF) as well, has released an official statement in solidarity with the fraternity of SVC, calling upon teachers and students to unitedly fight against NEP. 

DTF, in solidarity with the teachers of Sri Venkateswara College (SVC), expresses its concerns in synonymy with the latter’s protest against the attempts of the Andhra government to press for the merger of the college with Andhra University. DTF President Nandita Narain and Secretary Abha Dev Habib go on to shed light on how the excellence achieved by the college owing to it being a part of the University of Delhi (DU) must not be undermined. 

The Andhra government has made a plea to the Centre to amend the 2009 UGC order disallowing the jurisdiction of a university beyond the state by which it is established. DTF further goes on to point out how the move is driven by the host of steps taken recently as part of the government policy toolkit to acquire brand value through the ranking framework to be competitive in the market that would be determining for successful business in education. 

DU planning offshore campuses is driven by the same objective of reshaping itself as a business enterprise and has nothing to do with revamping education. The IoE scheme, which granted this freedom, for select universities had too narrow a base. The freedom to do business therefore has been extended to the management of every university and college under NEP 2020.

“This is also a forewarning of the dismemberment of colleges from Delhi University unless DU wants to make some wholly a part of itself and the college managements agree to cede powers to the BoG of Delhi University. The freedom granted to BoGs is unlikely to disallow takeovers, mergers and acquisitions.”

-Statement in Solidarity with the fraternity of SVC, DTF

Further outlining the existing laws to prevent such happenings and the effect NEP will have on them, DTF expresses its concerns on how the protections that we enjoy today from the UGC Act and DU Act from such takeovers will become a thing of the past as NEP gets rolled out. In particular, with the introduction of the provision under clause 19.2, “There shall be overarching legislation that will supersede any contravening provisions of other earlier legislation”.

In conclusion, DTF states that the Andhra Government need not plead any longer over any regulation for NEP’s “Light but Tight” regulatory framework will only require persuading the college management. The high ranking of the college will ensure such a possibility sooner than later.

“We fear that this move may be driven by and find support from the NEP recommendations to universities to have offshore campuses. The host of steps taken in the recent past as part of the Central Government policy is pushing institutions to acquire brand value through a specious ranking framework in order to be competitive in the market for edu-business.”

-Abha Dev Habib, Treasurer, DUTA

DU Beat reached out to the SVC Student Union in the same matter. The entire students and staff fraternity of SVC has been disheartened ever since the initiation of the move. The seriousness of the issue is what has brought the entire staff and students under a consensus who have been unitedly protesting against the move.

“Some prominent teachers of our college have offered to resign in case any of such development takes place. The Telugu students of our college are also not willing to get the college affiliated with AU, hence the issue of catering to the needs of Andhra students is not justified. The students, especially the first years are quite a bit disappointed with the move, and it is due to the ongoing COVID-19 protocols that we are unable to assemble inside the college campus to show our disregard. However, the students union on its part, started the protest on online platforms yesterday, and I was quite overwhelmed by the response that our struggle was addressed with.”

-Anand Devendran, Acting President, Students Union, SVC

The online Twitter storm, dated 25th February 2021 has been quite a success with students from other colleges joining in as well in large numbers. #Venky_belongs_to_DU and #VenkyIsDU have been trending ever since, thus bringing the required attention to the issue. “The level of support that we got yesterday has proved that the entire DU stands behind Venky and if the future developments are not in our favour, we will resort to physical dharna and protests. I want to reiterate that all the students and staff bodies are united against this move and we will ensure that SVC stays in DU only,” added Anand. 

 

Also read: 

https://dubeat.com/2021/02/duta-opposes-andhras-move-and-sides-with-svc-staff-association/

https://dubeat.com/2021/02/sri-venkasteswara-college-to-leave-du/

Featured Image Credits: Siksha

Annanya Chaturvedi

[email protected]

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DUTA Opposes Andhra’s Move and Sides with SVC Staff Association

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In an attempt to affiliate Sri Venkateswara college to Andhra University, Andhra CM wrote to the centre. Delhi University Teachers’ Association has released a press release in the same matter outlining its consequences and thus, opposing the move.

On February 20th, 2021, DUTA issued a press release ‘DUTA against fragmentation of Delhi University’ in response to Andhra’s request to the centre to affiliate Sri Venkateswara college to AU. DUTA President Rajib Ray and Secretary Rajinder Singh go on to express the association’s concerns for the college and how if pushed into its due course of action, the move will have “disastrous consequences for teachers, employees and students as well as the character of education” and therefore, must be opposed. 

Addressing the motives behind it, they further go on to acknowledge how the move appears to be driven by the fact that the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh lost several premier educational institutions to Telangana post bifurcation alongwith the founding idea of catering to the needs of Telugu-speaking students in Delhi. 

The Andhra government has also claimed that the foundation has been making grants for the enhancement of the college and its guidance and combined efforts have played a considerable role in the high ranking achieved by the college. Therefore, a plea has been made to the Centre to amend the 2009 UGC order disallowing state governments from establishing off-campus of a state university beyond the geographical boundaries of the state.

DUTA goes on to express how the reasons mentioned above are not sufficient to dismember the college from DU, taking into account the fact that a large part of the reason of Sri Venkateswara college being in top NIRF rankings today comes from it, being a part of DU. The crowd of students and faculty that it attracts is because it has been affiliated with Delhi University and has, therefore, always strived for excellence. 

“In making this plea, the Andhra Government is ignoring the fact that SVC has established itself as a premier institution within the framework of Delhi University. As part of a Central University, it is open to all students including those from Andhra Pradesh. The heterogeneity in terms of the student population has created the environment for achieving excellence. As part of DU, it has been able to attract the best academicians as faculty.”

-DUTA Press Release, 20.02.2021

Thus, DUTA has made its stance clear in standing alongside the SVC staff association in their resolve to oppose the move. 

Adding on, the press release also outlines DUTA’s concerns pertaining to the move being driven by and finding support in NEP recommendations to universities to have offshore campuses. “The host of steps taken in the recent past as part of the Central Government policy is pushing institutions to acquire brand value through a specious ranking framework in order to be competitive in the market for edu-business.”

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Annanya Chaturvedi

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Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and Caste System

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Amongst all the social reformers that India has had, Ambedkar was one of the most remarkable. For a country like India, where caste system is ingrained as such, the role of Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar cannot be forgotten.

On 12th December 1935, Bhimrao Ambedkar was asked by the Hindu reformist group, Jat-Pat Todak Mandal (Society for the Abolition of Caste System), to address their annual conference. He had been asked to speak about the horrifying and detrimental effects that the caste system brought upon the country.
However, when Ambedkar sent in his address, it was denied by the group. It had been deemed “too controversial”, and no one wanted to risk offending the higher caste groups. When they asked him to delete any provoking comments, Ambedkar had adamantly replied that he “would not change even a comma”. A year later he published this speech as the essay, “Annihilation of Caste”, which was remarked as one of the most scathing reviews of the caste system.

Inarguably, the caste system is one of the most shameful concoctions to be birthed out of archaic Indian traditions. A repressive and inhumane ideology, the caste system was one of the social constructs that many Indian reformists tried to abolish, and the contribution of Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar was one of the most stellar.

Dr B.R Ambedkar dedicated his entire life to the abolishment of caste, and his contributions towards dismantling the system are extremely notable. Born to a Mahar family, Bhim Rao was one of the few lower-caste children to attend school. Despite the discrimination, he became the first Dalit to be enrolled into the prestigious Elphinstone High School and won the Baroda State Scholarship for three years. He finished his postgraduate education from the Columbia University in New York, and for his thesis, he wrote about the castes in India- a paper that was presented at the Columbia University.

When Ambedkar returned to India in 1924, he launched a social reform movement against untouchability. He founded the Bahishkrut Hitkaraini Sabha, an organisation with the resolve of uprooting India’s caste system. He organised various marches for Dalit rights to basic human activities that were denied to them, like drinking water from public resources, or their right to enter religious houses. As a famous symbol of struggle against injustice, Ambedkar along with other protestors, walked into public tanks and reservoirs to drink from their waters. In late 1927, Ambedkar presented in a conference and publicly condemned the religious text of Manusmriti and its inhumane justification for caste discrimination and the notion of untouchability. He then led a march later that year where he and his fellow protestors burnt copies of his text as a token of opposition.

For the rest of his years, Ambedkar continued to fight against the archaic system. His most famous contribution is the construction of the Indian constitution under his guidance as the Chairman of the Drafting Committee. The Constitution of India, applauded as one of the most progressive documents of its time, abolished untouchability every form.

It has been over sixty years since Ambedkar’s reformations, and though caste still remains an evil that taints the society, it is only fair to recognise the immense struggle and development Dr B.R. Ambedkar contributed towards dismantling the caste system.
In 1936, Annihilation of Caste, Ambedkar had said, “Political tyranny is nothing compared to the social tyranny and a reformer who defies society is a more courageous man than a politician who defies Government.” The life of B.R. Ambedkar is that of a courageous and brave man working passionately to reform the Indian society and rid it of one of its worst evils. His legacy is one of great example and precedent which we cannot afford to forget.

Feature Image Credits: Britannica

Shreya Juyal

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